By Aggrey Baba
The opposition members of Parliament (MP)’s decision to meet the president has exposed fresh cracks within the opposition, coming just weeks after a disputed January 15, 2026 election whose results many parties and have rejected.
The meeting, recently held at State House Entebbe and led by Mawokota South MP Yusuf Nsibambi, according to sources, focused on post-election stability, political prisoners and reconciliation. But its timing and the way it was organized have raised more questions than answers, as the MPs met Museveni without consulting their party leaderships.
The recent election remains contested, as opposition parties (including the National Unity Platform, FDC, NPP among others) say the vote was marred by widespread rigging, intimidation and irregularities that favoured NRM candidates.
In several constituencies, opposition candidates claim they won but were declared losers.
Outgoing Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda on Thursday, during a TV talk show, said the election was not run by the Electoral Commission (EC) but by President Museveni and his son [the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba], describing it as the worst election in Uganda’s history.
Against this backdrop, the Entebbe meeting has been seen by critics as sending mixed signals. On one hand, opposition parties are rejecting the results, while on the other, some of their MPs are associating with Museveni (the declared winner).
PFF’s Nsibambi said the MPs raised the issue of political prisoners and asked Museveni to consider forgiving those arrested during and after the election, and also asked for an independent investigation into the detention of their colleague, the Butambala County MP who also doubles as the NUP Deputy president for Buganda, Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi who’s facing charges of terrorism.
Responding to criticism, Nsibambi said he acted in his personal capacity and in the interest of all Ugandans.
“I’m an elected MP and I will engage whoever I believe can help the country,” he said.
Other legislators who attended the meeting came from different opposition parties, including FDC, DP and PFF, highlighting the lack of a united position for the opposition after the election, prompting political watchers to say the meeting was just a repeat a familiar pattern in the politics of Uganda, where opposition unity often disapears after elections.
Like a rope pulled from different ends, the opposition now appears stretched between confrontation and engagement. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
